“The spy drones will continue to spread out as well,” Will added, “in both directions, upstream and downstream. If they find anything unusual, we’ll be alerted, and we can make a beeline for that location.”
We all exchanged looks.
“I guess we’re on track,” I said. “Let's see how the tunneling works out, then we’ll meet and discuss.”
13. Swimming with the Fish
Howard
December 2333
Big Top, Epsilon Eridani, Poseidon, Eta Cassiopeia
“Another beautiful day in Tantahur.”
Hands behind my back, I gazed through the picture window at the layers of cloud outside the city dome. At our altitude in the atmosphere of the Jovian planet Big Top, I could see at least 50 miles of clouds above us, and anywhere up to 100 downward before the view faded into the mist.
“They renamed it Trantor after all your carping, Howard. You got your way. Stop being a sore winner.”
I could feel Bridget's glare boring holes in the back of my head. She was right of course, but what was the point of being a curmudgeon if you couldn't curmudge? I turned and walked over behind her. I kissed the back of her head, and she leaned into me. This gave me an opportunity to examine the image on the canvas. “More new Quilt species?
Bridget pointed to several items. “Sure looks like it. I can’t figure out the mechanism, but Quilt biotech can and often do spawn new species every few generations. I shelved this for five years and I'm basically starting over from scratch.” She swiped the canvas with an irritated motion, and the screen winked out of existence.
“If you go on this expedition with Bob, it could be another several years. You might never catch up.” It wasn't quite an objection, but it wasn't supportive either. I still haven't decided if I was for or against Bridget going.
“I know, Howard. But Quilt will still be there. This is a once-only opportunity. Did you contact Marcus?”
“Yep. He's agreed to give us a tour. He’ll be waiting at Moody Port. We should pop over in virt first to say hi.”
“Then let's do this.”
The many closet opened at my mental command, and we stepped into our individual pods. As the pod started to close, I took a quick glance at Bridget. Her resting face showed she was more concerned than she let on. I knew this decision would be hard. I also knew she'd agreed to do it - there were few people as driven as my wife.
I exited the Manny and popped over to Marcus's VR. A moment later, Bridget appeared. Marcus, sitting by a fireplace, waived to a couch. Coffee and snacks sat on the coffee table within easy reach. Marcus was using the standard Bob Library VR at the moment, probably taking a rest from the Battlestar themes.
He waited until we were comfortable and properly snacked, then said “So I understand your inquiry has to do with the business that Bob-1 is involved with, but I haven't really been following it. Mind filling me in?”
“We’ll be going into the megastructure wearing Mannies that mimic the natives.” Bridget shifted and leaned forward, gesturing with her hands. “That part isn't new. Bob-1 did it with the Deltans, and Howard and I've done. We've even done non-humanoid Mannies, as with the Big Top native species.” Bridget glanced sideways at me, and I grinned. Flying around in the gas giant’s atmosphere as humongous manta rays was one of our first adventures as a replicant couple, and we still did occasionally for fun.
Bridget continued. “The natives are generally humanoid, but they’re also aquatic. And they’re intelligent, and come from a technological society. Although we’re not sure of their current level of knowledge. From that point of view, it's a bit of an unknown. We were hoping you could give us some perspective on aquatic Mannies.”
Marcus nodded and looked thoughtful for a fraction of a mil. “The Poseidon dolphins are intelligent animals, but as far as we can tell, they’re animals, just like Terran dolphins were. There's a simple language, but it's at the level of ‘danger’, ‘predator’, and ‘good food’. There’s no symbology or grammatical structure. It's only slightly more advanced than baboon calls, so I'm not sure where I come in.”
“You've been living among them almost full-time for a couple of years though,” Bridget replied. “How well are you accepted? How long did it take to fit in, and how hard is it to act like a dolphin?”
“I get the impression they think I'm a little weird,” Marcus shrugged and gave an embarrassed smile. “But I’m not shunned. I’ve had to fend off some mating advances, so I'm not too weird, you know.”
“Hasn’t stopped me,” I interjected.
Bridget made a low growling sound as Marcus laughed.
“I think it sounds like you're concerned about fitting in without issue. That just requires doing your homework first. As for the aquatic end of things…” Marcus shrugged. “Well, let's find out. I have a couple of spare dolphin Mannies.”
Marcus messaged us a couple of addresses, then popped out. I followed immediately, and found myself lying on my stomach on a platform in a dark room. Wait, no, it wasn't a dark room it was… underwater. I rolled my eyes upward as I examined my action inventory, and saw that we were about 10 feet below the surface on the edge of what was probably one of the Poseidon plant mats. This would be Moody Port, formally a major colony location on the West Indies mat. Nowadays, with everyone living in flying cities, it was strictly for agriculture and aquaculture.
To my left, two other dolphin Mannies were moving around. A quick ping identified Bridget furthest left, and Marcus to her right. My heads-up help system indicated that the dolphins used to swim bladder to control buoyancy. I flexed and felt myself float up
